Q4OS Forum

kendew

Member

Registered: 2019-01-19

Posts: 12

Dual monitor issue

Hi

I'm running the stable version of Q4OS on an old Lenovo x120e Laptop with 1366x768 display..

$ inxi -S
System:
  Host: pono Kernel: 4.19.0-8-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Trinity R14.0.6 
  Distro: Q4OS 3.10.3-n1 

I want to connect the laptop to a 1920x1080 24" monitor via HDMI cable.  When I do it works, but it seems the default is to extend my screen.  What I really want to do is duplicate the display, not extend it, so that what appears in the larger monitor is exactly as it appears on the laptop screen.  It seems like that should be simple, and I am hoping it is, but I haven't been able to figure it out.  Perhaps I'm not seeing the forest for the trees.
I've opened the Configure Kdesktop dialog by right clicking on the desktop.  In the Multiple Monitors tab I'm given the X and Y coordinates, and it seems I might be able to get what I want by changing the X coordinate of the large monitor to "0" instead of "1366" which it seems to default to, but I am not able to change this setting.  I've looked in the System Administration from the Control Panel, but didn't see anything relevant.  Really, I'm wanting to do something that doesn't require sudo privileges if I can, as I'm doing this for someone else.  If possible, I'd also like the cursor, etc., to appear on both large screen and laptop screen.
Help me if you can,
And thanks
Kendew

kendew

Member

Registered: 2019-01-19

Posts: 12

Re: Dual monitor issue

It would seem nobody knows about this.  I also don't generally use multiple monitors.  Just to add a bit of info -- I tried this with the same Lenovo x120e laptop but with Fedora LXQt installed.  LXQt handled the extra monitor easily through LXQt Monitor settings dialog.  In the Monitor Settings there is a Fast Menu tab where you can choose Extended View, Unified View, Only first, or Only second.  Unified view was the option that did exactly what I wanted.  Everything else was detected automatically.
For the time being I have installed lxrandr and it is doing the job well enough.  It is not perfect.  The 1920x1080 screen displays the full desktop, which is the result I wanted.  The laptop's 1366x768 display doesn't display so perfectly.  The bottom panel is not displayed, and something taking up the full screen in the larger monitor will only be partially displayed in the 1366x768 display.  Xrandr could probably get it right, but I need a simple GUI whose icon I can put on the desktop for someone not Linux savvy, and for now, this will do.
Still, I wish it was perfect, like the LXQt Unified View.  Perhaps Trinity needs to get something like this up and working.  I hope so.
Kendew

Last edited by kendew (2020-04-29 23:08)

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Dual monitor issue

You could try the control centre, it has a gui for that.

Control Centre -> System Administration -> Monitor & Display

Select the "Resolution & Layout" tab and position and resize to your preference.